Networking Technology Company Attracts Funding to Accelerate Worldwide Sales and Marketing of edgeBOX “Business Gateway” Solution

Coimbra, Portugal, October 26th, 2007 – Critical Links (www.critical-links.com), an international networking technology company, today announced it has closed its Series A round of funding, receiving $5,7 million from European venture capital funds InovCapital, Change Partners and ASK/ISQ Capital.

The new funding enables Critical Links to accelerate sales and marketing activities worldwide, in order to fuel the continued market growth of its proven edgeBOX “Office in a Box” solution. The company is expanding its direct presence in the US market and increasing its investment in sales and marketing in Europe and in key emerging markets such as India, China, Brazil and South Africa.

Since its spin-off from high-growth European software engineering services company Critical Software in early 2006, Critical Links has successfully become a global player with the edgeBOX, a converged multi-function device or business gateway targeted at SMEs and branch offices, through resellers, distributors, telecom service providers and managed services providers. The company recently secured key partnerships with manufacturers and service providers in the US, Europe, Asia, and Africa.

“edgeBOX is currently the most comprehensive, cost-effective multi-function device or “Office-in-a-Box” that consolidates Voice, Data, and IT at a price point accessible to the booming SME market” said Mr. João Carreira, Critical Links CEO. “The rapid customer and partner network growth demands a more aggressive expansion strategy. The new funds will enable us to expand faster in our target markets and extend our offerings and services to new markets”

So called “Multi-Service Business Gateways” or “Office-in-a-Box” devices are, according to high tech market research firm In-Stat, a fast-growth market, covering an estimated 35 million SME’s worldwide, that is set to reach $2.6 billion in 2011 worldwide (Multi-Service Business Gateways: Cisco under Attack, April 2007).

“We are very pleased to announce the closing of our investment in Critical Links, a company with all the conditions to be successful in the global market” said Mr. Luis Filipe Costa, CEO of InovCapital, on behalf of the investors. “In the global economy SME’s need to take advantage of the latest ICT trends, this is a huge market that is often overlooked by systems integrators, service providers and is now successfully being addressed by the edgeBOX solution”.

edgeBOX is distributed through channel partners (VARs, Systems Integrators, Service providers and OEMs) worldwide in the UK, Spain, Brazil, Chile, China, India, Indonesia, Portugal, Singapore, South Africa and Thailand among others. edgeBOX has been identified as a key player in the emerging “Business Gateway” market by leading analyst house InStat and won the Best Broadband Appliance award at the World Broadband Forum in Madrid. It also recently won the prestigious Techworld UK “2007 Convergence Product of the Year” award, and the “2007 TMC Labs Innovation” award.

About Critical Links

Critical Links (www.critical-links.com) is an international networking technology company and provider of edgeBOX, a converged multi-function device or business gateway targeted at SMBs and Enterprise Branch Offices. edgeBOX is available in a wide range of scalable hardware platforms, including hardened appliances and standard servers, and has the best feature to price ratio in the market, making it the ideal choice for cost savvy SMEs. edgeBOX typically replaces 4 to 6 single-function devices required to deliver an equivalent set of services, fully remotely managed, with significantly lower TCO. Telecom Service Providers and Managed Services Providers offer edgeBOX as a service to their SME customers.
Founded in 2005, Critical Links is a venture capital backed “spin off" of Critical Software, an high-growth European software engineering services company established in 1998, with over 250 employees and a presence in the UK, USA, and Portugal.

About InovCapital

InovCapital is the Portuguese Ministry of the Economy and Innovation venture capital society, geared towards supporting SME’s and entrepreneurs. Its mission is to contribute for the supported growth of the Portuguese economy through the promotion of entrepreneurship and a proactive participation in the development of the Portuguese companies. Inovcapital focuses its investments in technology intensive start-up companies and innovative projects geared for expansion into the global market.

About ASK/ISQ Capital

ASK/ISQ Capital is the venture capital arm of the ISQ Group, one of the largest engineering services firms in Portugal with more than 700 staff members. ISQ Capital focuses its investments in early-stage, technology-oriented companies.

About Change Partners

Change Partners is a leading independent venture capital company in Portugal. The firm invests in start-ups and highly innovative companies through its Fast Change investment fund.

For More Information:
Carlos Taveira
GetGlobal
Tel. 351 213502551
Email: carlos.taveira@getglobal.pt